Berlin’s New Year’s Eve Sees Violence, Arrests, and Injuries
Berlin’s New Year’s Eve celebrations turned violent, with 58 police officers and one emergency worker injured, and one death reported. According to the authorities, a total of 670 suspects were arrested, with 406 of them holding a German passport.
The official data reveals that most of the suspects had Muslim-sounding names, with 65% of German suspects having names not of German origin. The majority of these names were of Muslim origin, such as Abdul, Ali, Hassan, Mohammed, and Youssuf.
The police reported that 1,453 so-called “Silvester-type” crimes were registered, a 125-case increase from last year’s 1,328. The most common crimes were violations of the weapons and explosives law, with 531 cases of property damage, 274 weapons law violations, 241 bodily harm cases, and 54 explosives law violations.
The police also launched 44 investigations, including for violations of the explosives and weapons laws, and seized nearly seven tons of illegal pyrotechnics, including 20 fire bombs, and 944 rounds of pyrotechnic ammunition.
The Berlin police chief’s statements on the perpetrators of the violence, labeling some as “Böller-Täter” (bottle-rocketers), sparked criticism from some media outlets, with some calling it a “racist fueling of resentments.